OTTAWA – Conservative senators are expected to vent their frustrations in a closed-door meeting with their leaders Friday as the Tory rank and file try to wrest more independence from the Prime Minister’s Office.

The meeting, a behind-the-scenes mini-revolt, comes as one Tory senator has already resigned because, some of his colleagues say, he has had enough of the politics in the upper chamber. David Braley was a longtime Hamilton businessman who wrote his letter of resignation Nov. 25, and left the upper chamber five days later.

Prior to the summer break, Tory senators were being heavily pressured to pass Bill C-377, a private member’s bill that would force labour unions to publicly post details of their spending. Instead, Conservative senators substantially altered the bill, but the House of Commons didn’t pass the altered version. The bill became a flashpoint between the Commons and the Senate. Conservatives in the Senate created what was dubbed a “renewal committee” to try to empower senators more.

The renewal committee’s meeting would have taken place earlier this fall, but the Conservative leadership in the Senate instead extended the days available for debate on the suspensions of Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau. The “renewal committee” conflab was postponed – even as wrangling over the suspensions provided more grist for it.

There was unease even within the Conservative Senate caucus over the push to suspend all three former Tories without pay, and over the constant pressure senators said they face from the House of Commons over the ongoing spending scandal.

It’s not clear what Conservative senators will be looking for from their closed-door meeting.

But a rift between the Tories in the Senate and House of Commons appears to be becoming more pronounced.

“Senators must go back to first understand what is the role of the Senate and what are the principles that were at the very basic understanding and why we have such an institution. Those who think the Senate should be a replicate of the House of Commons are wrong,” said Conservative Sen. Pierre Claude Nolin, a Brian Mulroney appointee.

“The partisan approach is not always, probably, in the interests of the institution.”